Lightened-Up Mac & Cheese

January 29, 2014

Love mac & cheese? Me too! But, of course, I don’t love how it’s loaded with calories and fat and usually falling short on nutrients. You know what I’m talking about, right? Pasta, cheese, butter, more cheese… not the healthiest ingredients.

With that in mind, I created a remade version using Brussels sprouts, spinach, Greek yogurt, reduced-fat cheddar, garlic, almond milk and almond flour. Quite the all-star cast, right?

I pumped up the volume of the whole wheat elbow macaroni by adding nutrient-packed Brussels sprouts and spinach. The typically heavy cheese sauce is replaced by a slimmed-down version made with nonfat Greek yogurt, low-calorie almond milk and reduced-fat cheddar cheese, but it doesn’t lose out on its great taste thanks to some whole grain mustard, minced garlic, and other spices. The dish is finished off with a sprinkling of almond flour in place of traditional breadcrumbs to further keep the calorie count down. Basically, this dish is one of the most delicious mac & cheese recipes out there (at 365 calories per serving), so be sure to put it on your ‘must try’ list!

I love mac and cheese and will often add spinach and/or lentils (which my husband thinks is weird). I think I may be able to convince my husband to try this one, though, since there’s a bit of mustard in it! Thanks for sharing!

Every time I see a recipe with almond flour in it I think, “Well I don’t want to buy almond flour for just ONE recipe.” However for a while now I’ve seen almond flour pop up in more and more of your recipes. Could you do a round up post of what you use almond flour for? Thanks!

WOW! What a great recipe idea. How did you come up with this? I love brussel sprouts & spinach. I’ve avoided pasta for years because I haven’t figured out how to replace the heavy creams & cheeses to make them still taste good. Any idea on the # of calories per serving?

This sauce–well my version of it–is amazing!! I didn’t have any plain greek yog or cheddar so I used an extra laughing cow wedge, some milk, grated gouda and some dry white wine and let it simmer for awhile, put the sauce on top of some left over spaghetti squash and grilled chicken made for the perfect little bowl of wonderful today! YUM! Thanks for posting delicious and healthier recipes.